Emotions. Ups and downs. Out of control. Thinking you hit bottom only to spiral out of control again. Impatience. Frustration. And starting over again. Will it ever end.

I want to share with you an urban legend, some of you are probably familiar with it, what an injured brick layer wrote on his insurance form to explain how he had so many injuries after he tried to move 500 pounds of bricks from the top of a fourth story building to the ground below: It would have taken too long to carry the bricks down by hand, so I decided to put them in a barrel and lower them by a pulley which I had fastened to the top of the building. After tying the rope securely at the ground level, I then went up to the top of the building. I fastened the rope around the barrel, loaded it with the bricks and swung it out over the sidewalk and untied the rope, holding it securely to guide the barrel down slowly. But since I weigh only one hundred and forty pounds, the five hundred pound load jerked me from the ground so fast that I didn’t have time to think of letting go of the rope. And as I passed between the second and third floors, I met the barrel coming down. This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body. I held tightly to the rope until I reached the top, where my hand became jammed in the pulley. This accounts for my broken thumb. At the same time however, the barrel hit the sidewalk with a bang and the bottom fell out. With the weight of the bricks gone, the barrel weighed only about forty pounds. Thus my 140 pound body began a swift descent, and I met the empty barrel coming up. This accounts for my broken ankle. Slowed only slightly, I continued the descent and landed on the pile of bricks. This accounts for my sprained back and broken collar-bone. At this point, I lost my presence of mind completely and let go of the rope and the empty barrel came crashing down on me. This accounts for my head injuries. I hope this information satisfactorily fulfills your request for further information.

(NOTE: just for fun, at the end of this posted sermon is a video of a Mythbusters episode of a recreation of this story. Could it really happen? take a look...)

A man drives his van to the Louvre art museum in Paris, and robs it. This man is quite an accomplished thief. He easily gets past all the security and walks out with an armful of valuable paintings. But as he drives away with the police in hot pursuit, the man runs out of gas. The man gets caught, and while the police are locking him up one of them asks "You were a master at robbing the Louvre, you had it all going well for you, and you ran out of gas. What happened?" The thief says "I didn't have the Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh." Ever feel like you are just out of gas. You just don’t know how much is left in your tank, but there is more on your list, more to accomplish, more responsibilities. Listen to the cry of King David: Read Ps. 4:1. Distress, tension, trouble. Who cannot relate? As I was considering this scripture I got an e-mail with bad news [changed name] Jane is extremely sick. Her breast cancer has returned, it has metastasized, and she has lesions in her brain. She won’t be returning to work and she probably won’t be fighting it. Stress in the extreme.

The story goes that a court jester went too far one day and insulted the king. The king became so infuriated that he sentenced the jester to death. The King’s court pleaded with the king to have mercy for this man who had served him well for many years. After a time, the king relented enough to give the jester his "choice" as to how he would like to die. The jester considered his choices and finally responded, "if it's all the same to you my Lord, I'd like to die of old age."Your choice is not how you are going to die, the choice God gives you is how are you going to live? That’s what the Psalms are all about! How are you going to live? What is the tone of your life? the mood? What direction to walk.

The book of Psalms speaks to our hearts, our emotions. I affirm the basic truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ: there is only one way to salvation, Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive our sins… and our emotions are a major part of the equation that determines the quality and character of our lives.

Carl Crouse, Pastor

At SACC we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Every Sunday the worship service includes a message from the Bible. My words are an attempt to understand and apply the Bible to our daily living. I post weekly sermons and other biblical messages on this page. May you find meaning and hope as you read through each message and seek to hear God's voice. Leave a comment to ask questions or inspire others with your insights.

In general, the previous Sunday's sermon will be posted by Tuesday afternoon.